The joy of junior hockey: Watching people grow




Photo from https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/news/canadian-rosters-named-for-2025-wjac

The joy of junior hockey: Watching people grow
by Jen Davies, nerd
March 9, 2026


I recently moved from a big city to a small town, and my spouse and I bought season tickets to the local junior hockey team (ages 16-20). They are an occasional feeder to the bigger hockey leagues, and they are just of an age where they are allowed to hit each other. Of course fighting is never technically allowed however it's also at this stage that players understand they will enforce on-ice courtesy of the referees aren't calling violations.

It's exciting, mostly clean hockey. I've been loving it.

We bought season tickets because we know from experience that we are the kind of people who will just sit at home and scroll on our phones if we don't have an event of some kind. So we have "standing dates" with friends, and we host a lot of board game nights. If we didn't buy the whole season of hockey tickets (and it's not expensive - we're talking about $10/game I think) we knew we wouldn't go. We've had a to miss a few games, and we have often been able to give the tickets away.

Watching the game last weekend, I realized that a great deal of what I love about having had season tickets is that I've had the opportunity to watch them grow and develop as players. You may have noticed that I like threes, so here are three reflections on the joy of watching people learn.


Skills get better

The first thing I noticed last weekend is how much better the players' essential hockey skills are: anticipating the puck's movement, passing, skating, communicating... all of it is better. At the start of the season they looked like Junior A hockey players. As we reach the end of the season sometimes there are a few minutes at a time where I'm thinking, wow, I could be watching professional-level hockey right now!


Confidence gets better

Along with improved skills, last weekend I saw a lot more confidence. Where their choices seemed tentative and we saw hesitation before - should I take this? should I pass it? should I take a shot? - now we're seeing much clearer decision-making. They go for the puck. They pass it up. I wish more of them would take shots, but I understand they're aiming to score and not just shovel it at the goalie (though that often works).


Collaboration gets better

And even though there have been some late-season substitutions due to player departures and injuries, they play now like a team. They know each other's strengths and weaknesses. And one of my favourite players was recently moved from centre to winger, and it's so much better for him - seems like he and the coach figured out that he's better battling on the boards than in the blue paint. And that's fine! Better to figure that out late than never.

I'm not connected to any of these players directly, but I have become invested in their progress. It's fun and it feels good to have people to care about and cheer for.

So let me encourage you to check out the junior level sport of your choice in your hometown! 

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